Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

Have I mentioned I don't care? I didn't think the books are all that great. I think the movies are soso and at some point I'd like to see Harry the Hero actually do something heroic.

I know. It's like Drunk Monk and the Good Night film, but the film got good reviews and I like Mike Newell.

Well, the first thing Mike Newell did was take most of the magic out of the film. The ever present ghostsm, the talking paintings, even the moving stairways all no where to be found. Okay, one painting did move and one ghost did appear. Even in the great hall for their feast, there were boxes of cereal on the table. If you were a wizard would you put up with a box of cereal for breakfast?

As for the story, it was there. It just wasn't executed very well. My main complaint is Harry is a very passive character. He is told how to do everything. He doesn't succeed on his own wits or skill. Or it needs to be pointed for greater effect.

And there's Dumbledore. Richard Harris's replacement just isn't cutting it for me. Harris (from Limerick, don't you know. Lived on O'Connel street just down the way from the Crescent and thw Wolf Tone pub) had an etheral quality that suited the character of Dumbledore. His replacement is just a little too solid. And he's go to stop pulling thoughts out of his head. It's a sure way to get Alzheimers.

[Drunk Monk]

I just caught the end of Chamber of Secrets last Saturday on TV, was it? I watched about half of it, which is more than I've wacthed of any Potter movie. Never read the books. It doesn't do anything for me. I don't know why, because it strikes me as something I should like. After all, we're paying a fortune to have Tara at Hogwarts, or something akin to Hogwarts without all the magic. And I'm used to groups of people with extraordinary powers. You'd think the Potter world would offer a whole bunch more metaphors for me, like Star Wars or Star Trek, Lord of the Rings or even X-men. Maybe it's just too young for me now. Too young, but not young enough because I'm sure the imagery would scare Tara right now. Maybe when she gets older I'll dial into it more.

How many Potter movies have there been? Rowling pisses me off as an author - no writer should make that much, except King maybe...

[El Dingo]

Dee Dee and I caught this at the Emeryville AMC on 12/30.

This was my favorite book in the series (I'm a sucker for ring-of-fire type trials) and had high hopes for the film.

It did very well in capturing the awkwardness of growing up, the characters were fairly well given room to breathe (with the possible exception of Hermione who only had room to whine). The acting was decent, although a shade melodramatic at times.

However, I felt something was missing, and brother Greg nailed it.

I was constantly scouring the paintings for animation, the halls for moving staircases and the great hall for the ubiquitous Nearly-Headless Nick. Everything was mundane and static. The last 3 films were filled with ghosts, goblins, spells, monsters, mischief and mystery.

The book had all those things. They were cut because they were sub-plots and did not contribute to the already lengthy main story. Taking the trimming off the tree is not the way to handle Holiday faire. This should have been a 2-part Harry Potter with the conclusion released in the summer.

I still enjoyed the dark, edgy feel of the film, but I can get that from "Hellboy", " Sin City" and "Batman Begins".

Maybe the Directors DVD will include all the missing bits about Hermione's 'House-Elf Protection Society' and Harry's interaction with the Dursleys.

Oh Well. Next stop 'The Chronic WHAT! cles of Narnia'

[Greg_phpbb3_import1]

The nadir was seeing boxes of cereal on the tables in Hogwarts hall. What happened to the piles of magic food? Anyone can nip down to the store and buy Cheerios.

[Drunk Monk]

Seeing this now again for the holidaze it makes more sense.  Now we've read all the books and know the back stories.  This is the coming of age book in the series, the first blushes of romance for our heroes, an old Doctor Who, the pivotal 'he's back', and now the introduction to the next Batman.  It's flawed from the books.  The ball was supposed to be in the Durmstrang ship. The absence of Windy shows the break of the movies from the huge house-elf slave story arc.  The Mad-eye Moody mcguffin is solid with foreshadowing, as is the Harry+Ginny, Ron+Hermione couplings.  It's also when the series takes a much darker turn overall.